Opposition to the SOGI initiative has come from parents and groups who have long opposed LGBTQ-education and supports in the school system, and who held a town hall opposing the program late last month.

Opponents have become more vocal since March, when the school district issued a letter in support of the initiative within the new curriculum, and have recently formed a new group, Parents United Canada, which argues SOGI is a “political cult” which amounts to the “abuse of children.”

In the past, some of the same opponents have fought against the Vancouver School Board’s LGBTQ-policy and books featuring diverse families at the Surrey School District.